New Love, in Old Places
by PhantomWriter7
Summary: It's been 40 years since Chihiro left the Spirit World. She had to give Haku up and get married. Now Chihiro has forced her own daughter to go to the Spirit World because a dream told her to? How much time has passed in the spirit world?
1. The Departure

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie/characters, except for the ones I make.

B/N: Well, here we go (again).

…

"Why, Chihiro! When did Aicho get so big? She is almost the mirror image of you when you were her age… It's almost too much to believe that she's 17 already." Said Mrs. Mazuki, the old grocery woman who sold fruit to the folks of Chihiro's town. Chihiro smiled, feeling the wrinkles that were beginning to form on her skin shift. Her eyes slid from the older woman in front of her, too the young woman who had her nose pressed against a window pane across the street. The store was closed for the day, but Aicho didn't seem to be concerned. It wasn't a busy place, and the copy of old fairy tales she was eyeing would most likely still be there the next day. "It seems like just yesterday you moved into that old blue house on the edge of town and would walk past our fruit stand every day on your way to and from school. It's hard to believe 40 years have already passed since then."

"Haha… yes, well, it has been quite a long time." Chihiro replied, nodding slowly.

"Yes. I recall being worried about you for many years." Mrs. Mazuki said tapping her chin in thought. Chihiro cocked her head to the side slightly, but felt her expression grow neutral when she realized what the older woman meant.

"You had so many suitors, what with you willful spirit, and energy. You were quite the leader back in the day. Yet you always turned down every boy that offered themselves. I know my boy Mickey would have given you the stars, had you asked." Mrs. Mazuki admitted giving a defeated sigh. Chihiro eyes widened which in turn made the other woman laugh. "Oh well. The past is the past. You finally did marry though, which is all that matters. And to a scholar, no less."

"Mom. I think it's going to rain." Aicho shouted from across the street before looking both ways and approaching her mother. Chihiro and Mrs. Mazuki looked up in surprise and were stunned to see the dark storm clouds that were definitely not over them moments before.

"I think you may be right, deary." Mrs. Mazuki said, blinking a few times before turning away from the mother and daughter so as to start packing away her produce.

"Do you need help, Kaima?" Chihiro asked, but the older woman just waved her off with a smile.

"I've been lugging this fruit in and out of my house for years. I'll be fine. Have a good evening you too, and be safe getting home."

"See you, Mrs. Mazuki." Aicho said as Chihiro waved back and the two began their walk back home.

They walked in silence for a while eyeing the clouds and hoping the rain would not start until they were inside. When they were about halfway home Chihiro suddenly stopped walking and made a confused face. Aicho, noticing her mother was no longer walking alongside her, stopped and looked back.

"What's the matter?"

"Aicho. I just remembered… I have to show you something." Chihiro said slowly, and with a lot of effort, as if the words hurt to say. Aicho felt this was odd, seeing as her mother was usually quite easy going and not afraid to speak her mind.

"Now?"

"Yes. Come this way." The older woman said as she made a sudden 90 degree turn and took off for a hillside that led into a wooded area. It was the area Chihiro had always warned her daughter to stay away from. Her mother had warned her many times that it was dangerous, and the intensity in her voice had always managed to persuade the curious Aicho that it wasn't worth her mother's anger to go exploring. Now she was being led into that very forest by the one who had forbid it.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"What are those little things? They look like small houses?" Aicho said as she knelt down to look inside them. One housed a small frog who watched the young girl with beady eyes. After a moment Aicho felt unnerved by the creatures unwavering gaze and quickly caught up with her mother.

"That's because they are. People believe spirits live inside them." Chihiro answered, not bothering to stop and take a look at the little black boxes she had once found interesting from the back seat of her father's car.

A little farther down the road an old statue of a pudgy figure sat staring straight ahead. Aicho felt the urge to just stop and look at it, but she didn't want to fall behind. Chihiro was walking like a woman on a mission, which wasn't uncommon for her, but it often meant trouble was about to start for Aicho. Whether it was her mother on her way to the principle of the school, or on her way to the local newspaper headquarters. If she wanted something done, she would go forward head held high. Aicho had never been able to walk with such confidence, but she had gained her mother's tough spirit and will.

Slowly building with a wide tunnel came into view, with another statue that reached to the two women's waist, sitting guard. The grass was trimmed back but with each step Chihiro took it appeared to grow an inch beneath her feet. Finally she stopped just before entering the tunnel. She stared down the dark pathway, looking longingly at the bright light that shone at the end. Aicho squinted, trying to see down the tunnel, but found only complete darkness.

"What's this place?" Aicho asked, craning her neck to see better. Chihiro gave a sad sigh earning a look of confusion from her daughter.

"The entrance."

"To?"

"Your destiny." Chihiro replied nodding slowly. "They need you. They need you like he needed me." Her eyes focused on Aicho who was fidgeting nervously.

"Mama… Are you alright?"

"No. I haven't been alright since I left." Chihiro replied with a sad smile. "But I am still healing." She took a step away from the tunnel and held her hand out to Aicho who accepted it after a moment of hesitation.

"Aicho. I want you to listen to my words. Listen to them with more attention than you've ever given anything. More than attention than to your favorite books, or the boy you like. More attention than my past warnings. Alright?" Aicho opened her mouth to question the older woman, but stopped when she caught her mom's gaze. She had never been as serious as she was at that moment.

"Are you hungry?"

"A… A little."

"Do not eat any food, unless it's given to you. Nothing. I don't care if you're crawling on the ground starving. If it's not given to you, do not touch it."

Aicho nodded, albeit at a loss for understanding, but she silently promised.

"There are friends and enemies at the bathhouse. I don't know if the same people are still there, but ask for Kamajii. Kamajii will help."

"Where am I going? I thought we were all going to the city tomorrow? We were going to go shopping."

"Aicho. Don't worry about that. Just listen." Aicho nodded. "I… I don't know why you have to go, but something is telling me you need to. Zeniba. I bet it's Zeniba." Chihiro said with a smile. "Don't trust Yubaba, though." Her eyes opened up quickly and became serious.

"Mom?" Aicho whispered, almost desperately. Chihiro raised her hands to cup her daughter's cheeks softly. She looked her over quietly.

"You're lucky. I was only a child."

Aicho had to force down the gulp of nervousness that had clustered up in her throat.

"You're scaring me." Aicho said clutching her mother's wrists and pulling her hands from her face. Before she could say anything else Chihiro had pulled the girl into her arms and was hugging her furiously.

"I'll be with you someday. I promise." Chihiro whispered quietly into Aicho's ear. It sounded southing, but it didn't help qualm Aicho's fears. "Your father and I love you." Suddenly her mother had let go of her and was pushing her towards the tunnel. She wanted to fight back. She wanted to break free of her mother's grip and bolt through the trees and up the hillside to her house. She could tell her father her mom had lost it.

But the light at the end began to shine and sparkle and she found herself drawn to it, like a moth to flame. She was the fragile moth, and the light would set her afire. She couldn't stop herself though. Chihiro was still at the entrance to the tunnel and not one step past.

"Aicho. If… If you meet a boy named Kohaku… hit him. Hit him harder than that boy who made your friend Suzaka cry in sixth gra-"And then her voice was gone, and the only sound that could be heard was the wind whistling through the tunnel.

And then she was walking through a decrepit room with high windows and a leaf covered floor. The paint was crumbling off the walls, and the wind whipped past her, rushing back down the tunnel from where she had entered. She didn't like the feel of the room and quickly rushed towards the only exit that could be seen. A grassy hill sat nestled in front of her with a single river running from between one nestle of trees, alongside the hill, past the buildings entrance, and into another section of woods. She wondered if it was possible to walk into the trees, keeping alongside the building, until she met back up at the end of the tunnel where she last saw her mother. Something inside her told her to never try. Something instinctual.

She crossed the river easily enough, and slowly climbed the hill, straining to see what was on the other side. The grass was a bit slippery and wet, even though it was towards the end of the day. She wondered if it was possible that it had rained here before it was about to hit town.

Finally, lights came into view. Bright, colorful lights.

Then she smelt the food.

…

A/N: Thanks for reading my revised version. I hope you guys like it better than the drabble I had before. And if you didn't read what I had before, well congratulations. You got to go through life without wasting a couple minutes trying to piece through my terrible grammar and limited plot structure.


	2. Meeting Lin

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away, or any of its character's. The characters that you don't know are mine though.

B/N: For those of you who haven't noticed, I have rewrote chapter one. Please go back and read it, since it is more thought out than what I used to have. If you happened to just stumble upon this story, and already read the chapter one that is there… ignore this. Please proceed.

…

"… and the stalls were dotted with lights hanging from every corner. There were stools for the customers to sit on, and plates of food filled the counters. The smell was amazing." Chihiro said trying her best to recall the details of the other world. She knew her daughter wouldn't believe her if she told her it was from her memories. Stories though. Her daughter was fascinated with books, and tales of fantasy. It was easy enough for Chihiro to tell her own story, without her daughter ever knowing it was true.

"How amazing?" Aicho asked excitedly. Chihiro bit on her lip in thought for a moment narrowing her eyes as she did her best to think of something to compare it too. Her daughter, who was only seven at the time, was utterly fascinated, and they weren't even at the best part.

"Like. The curry old Mr. Gan makes, only it smelt sweeter, and sourer. More bitter, with a bit of a salty flavor in the air. It smelt like every delicious thing in existence was there."

"Did the little girl eat anything?"

"NO." Chihiro said quickly, making her daughter jump in surprise. "You can't just go off and eat food someone else made, without it being offered. At least not in that world. In that world, you should eat only the food of those you trust." Chihiro tilted her head down and looked her daughter in the eye carefully. "Her parents ignored this rule though."

"They did?" Aicho asked, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Yep. And do you know what happened to them?"

"They got arrested?"

"Nope. They turned into pigs."

"EW!" Aicho said kicking her feet and giggling excitedly.

"So what have you learned from this?" Chihiro asked, raising an eyebrow and trying half-heartedly to look like she wanted a serious answer. Aicho took a breath as she thought squeezing the soft blanket spread across her bed in her fingers before answering.

"The tastiest food will make you fat."

Chihiro's laughter could be heard throughout the whole house.

…

Even though the sun was still in the sky, Aicho could see the lights shining brightly in the distance. The sight had roused a memory of a story she had been told as a child to entertain her before bed. She took a deep breath relishing the smell and realizing her mother's description had been perfect. The smell was enticing and she thought about all the different possible foods that could be being prepared at the moment. Her mouth watered.

She began her descent down the hill and towards the source of the lights and scents. She climbed up a small set of steps and found herself directly on the walkway between the stalls. Chicken. Pork. Steak. Rice. Noodles. Salmon.

She didn't touch them though. Like her mother had said, even if she was crawling on the ground starving, she shouldn't eat anything. Even if she hadn't been told not to, she wouldn't. The whole place felt weird. Like something bad was lurking around the corner. Maybe not bad, but… not right. Not normal. She turned her head to look behind her, but saw no one.

"Hello?" She called out softly, not really sure if she wanted an answer. Silence was her reply. "Is anyone here?"

A cool breeze ran across her cheek making her shiver and cross her arms nervously. Her shoulder length hair was blowing in her face. She dropped her arms to dig into her pocket for something to hold it back with. Her fingers grazed across a soft hair tie. She blinked a few times as she looked at it, trying to remember where she had gotten a purple band at. She usually just wore plain black ones. Slowly Aicho turned it over in her hand and was surprised to see it sparkle beautifully. She had never thought a hair tie could be considered beautiful, but this one was.

Once her hair had been pulled out of her face she continued her walk down the stoned path. Every now and then something would dart out of the corner of her eye and make her jump, but when she turned to look nothing would be there.

Then someone sneezed. She spun around and found a small frog wearing a shirt sitting on the ground just a little ways away from her. It didn't move and for a moment Aicho wondered if it was just a statue. Finally it blinked and took a hop towards her. She stumbled backwards, knocking a stool over. She looked away for only a moment to pick it up, but when she returned her gaze to the frog, it was gone.

"A frog. I was actually nervous about a frog." She said with a laugh as she moved closer to the end of the walk at a faster pace than before. It was when she was almost at the bridge that she finally noticed the large building sprawled out before her. It was tall and looked very old. A traditional bath house. Aicho's eyebrows furrowed as the memory of her mother's description from the story matched it to a 'T'.

Finally she looked back down at the bridge and felt her skin crawl when her eyes found the same frog watching her again. His stare was unwavering and Aicho couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you want?" She had to bite back the urge to hiss it at the amphibian. Instead she did her best to imitate her mother's calm composure. She wasn't sure why one frog was making her feel creeped out.

"I just wanted to warn you." The frog said slowly. His voice was masculine and sounded a bit bored. "It's going to be tough on you soon."

Aicho didn't scream or run. She didn't yelp or try to step on the frog. She just stood very still and took a deep breath.

"I'm dreaming." She whispered to herself. "I've heard my mother's stories too much. I must have created a dream about all this." The frog laughed.

"If you say so, kid." He hopped to the side of the bridge. He reached down and straightened his shirt out before finally looking up at Aicho. "You can believe this is a dream all you want, but if you die… you die." With that last remark, he bounded off the bridge and into the river that ran beneath it. Aicho shivered.

And then the sun was gone out of the sky. She hadn't realized how late it was getting until the lights along the bridge flickered to life, as well as lights inside the bathhouse. She bit on her lip and looked around. On the other side of the bridge rows of bushes went off to the left. Without another though she sprang across the wooded walkway and dove in between them, pushing stray flowers out of her face.

Finally she came to a cliff that looked over a flat, brown colored land. It reminded her of a desert. A single line of train tracks could be seen heading off into the distance. She looked to her right and saw the side of the bath house that had multiple pipes, ladders, and windows. To the left was a small building that reminded her of a stable. The pig pens. Her mother had never cared to describe them, which made Aicho confused at how well her mind had come up with a design for them. This was one interesting dream.

As she turned to go back through the bushes and explore a bit more, she came face to face with a woman who was wearing too much make up. Upon closer inspection she didn't really look like a normal woman. Her face was rounder and her eyes beadier.

"A spirit?" Aicho whispered. The woman blinked a few times before smiling widely.

"Chihiro! Is that you? I knew I sensed a human crossing the bridge!" She said excitedly. "Oh, Lin's going to love this. Come on, let's go find her." For some reason Aicho felt that she should follow this woman. She had mistaken her for her mother, but she didn't seem bad.

When they were at the edge of the bushes Aicho stopped and let her eyes focus on the figures moving back and forth on the bridge that hadn't been there earlier. Creatures that didn't look like humans, but had their figures were waving people in. Tall creatures covered in multiple colors, see-through monsters with wide smiles, and she could swear one of them was a Kappa. Her eyes widened and she found herself involuntarily ducking back behind the bushes. The woman who had found her didn't even seem to notice she wasn't following anymore and proceeded to disappear into the main entrance. Aicho stood by the edge of the bushes watching the bizarre creatures interact as normally as people in a shopping center.

"Do you smell that?" One of the short men with a wide face asked, pushing his hat back on his head.

"Yeah. It's… familiar." Another one with skin that was a paler than his friend, replied.

"Almost like…" The first one said taking a deep breath.

"I haven't smelled anything this bad since Chihiro first showed up." The pale one said covering his nose. Aichio gave a small gasp and retreated deeper into the bushes. She recalled her mother's story. When the young girl had shown up alarms went off and everyone went looking for her because she was a human. Yet there was nothing more than soft chit chat on the bridge, and shouting about water temperature inside.

Then a tall woman stepped through one of the bushes and locked her sight on Aicho.

"Chihiro!" The woman shouted jumping up and down before running at the confused girl. "Maya wasn't lying! It is you! It's me! Lin!" Aicho stood very still as the woman spread her arms out and went to embrace the girls, only to fall right through her and tumble onto the ground. It was that moment that Aicho realized she was growing as transparent as the other creatures. She sucked in a gulp of breath to keep from shouting out.

"What?" Lin said in surprise as she moved onto her knees. "Chihiro, why are you disappearing?"

"Like I know!" Aicho said frantically waving her arm through a bush in an attempt to touch something. "Fix it!" The woman dug her hand into a pocket of her pink cleaning suit and pulled out something wrapped up in thin white paper. She peeled back the cover to reveal a fresh onigiri ball and held it out to Aicho.

"This should work." Lin said shoving it under the girl's nose. Aicho went to pick it up but found her hand slipped right through it. After giving a frustrated noise she decided to just open her mouth and take a bite. A couple seconds after swallowing the sweet-flavored rice ball she found her skin was stabilizing again. Her breathing slowed down from the hurried mess it had been.

"Man, Chihiro, you reek. You smell like human again." The woman said with a laugh giving the rest of the food to the girl. "It's good to see you again though. You look so much olde-…" Lin trailed off as she looked at Aicho clearly. The girl stopped mid-bite and straightened her back a bit.

"I'm not Chihiro." She said.

"Not… Chihiro." The woman repeated, looking at the girl with a hard eye. "Are… you her sister or something?"

"Chihiro is my mother." Aicho said before taking another bite of her food. Lin began to laugh. "What?"

"Chihiro's only a little girl." Lin said as she moved to her feet and brushed herself off. "Who are you really? Another human who wandered into our world?"

"I'm Aicho."

"Well, I do admit you look a lot like Chihiro. You look like what I imagine she'd look when she was older."

"That's because I'm her daughter." Lin just rolled her eyes. "How do I get you to believe me?" Aicho asked.

"It's impossible." The woman said as she began to the walk back to the bathhouse. "You better stay hidden and hurry back across the river in the morning.

"You're Lin, right? My mother mentioned you before." The woman just gave a small laugh and kept walking. "She was assigned to you. You looked after her, and even went to lengths to help her out."

"Anyone could know that." Lin said, but she had stopped walking.

"My mother also mentioned some other people. She told me stories. About a big bathhouse ran by spirits for spirits. It was controlled by a witch, Yubaba. There's a boiler man named Kamijii. And a boy... a dragon named Kohaku River." Lin turned and gave the girl a hard look.

"How could a human know about all that? You really must be related to Chihiro. An older cousin?"

"My mother isn't a kid. She's fifty years old." Lin's eyes widened.

"She's only been gone for four years." The woman argued. "She… She's only fourteen."

"She mentioned something to me once when telling me about the girl in her stories, and how thought time might be different between the two worlds. The week she had spent in the spirit world had actually been two months in the real world. The people in town thought the family had died while on the road, in a car accident or something."

"T-Two months?" Lin said in surprise. She stood in place biting her nails for a few minutes before finally making a decision. She pointed towards the side of the bathhouse that faces the open desert. "See that walkway with the stairs? Go down to that door and go in there. I'll meet up with you in a moment." The woman sprang off through the thick underbrush and was gone within moments. Aicho, having nothing better to do in her dream, decided she'd play along, and began her decent towards the side of the building, and down to the hidden room.

…

A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN. So, I got the explanation of why Haku didn't show up, kind of. One year in the spirit world equals ten in the human world. Lin still doesn't fully believe her, though. Only Kamijii can find out the truth!


End file.
